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Bruce Arians had just said earlier Thursday the wide receivers as a whole had to pick up their level of play. It was a little easier for the wideouts at practice because, with the team in shells, there wasn’t a lot of tight coverage (contact was relatively limited, especially downfield.) Rookie Krishawn Hogan stood out with a couple of nice early catches, but he couldn’t corral a couple others later on. It’ll be interesting to see how much certain guys play against the Raiders, especially given all the injuries. Chad Williams and John Brown are iffy, Aaron Dobson is sidelined, and there was another guy going down in practice.

— That guy was rookie wide receiver Carlton Agudosi, who suffered some kind of right leg/knee injury. I didn’t see what happened, but after one play Agudosi was down in the end zone. Larry Fitzgerald came over to see if he was OK, and eventually, he and Brittan Golden helped Agudosi up and served as crutches so Agudosi could hobble over to a cart, where he was driven to the locker room. Arians doesn’t talk again until after the game Saturday.

— Quarterback Carson Palmer was off of practice for a second straight day, interesting since Palmer will get the start Saturday. Arians didn’t mention at lunch Palmer would be sitting. Linebacker Karlos Dansby was also sitting out.

— Quarterback Drew Stanton had a beautiful deep ball early in practice, hitting J.J. Nelson well down the field.

— Assistant equipment manager Jeff Schwimmer made an outstanding one-handed grab of a Fitzgerald pass after one play. Fitz needs to get his passes down for his shorter receivers.

— C Daniel Munyer also limped to the locker room with a trainer at the end of practice.

— There was a nice TD pass from Trevor Knight to Golden at one point, but the pass only happened because Robert Nkemdiche wasn’t allowed to complete the sack he was inevitably going to get. The defense would have had quite a few sacks Thursday.

— Finally, a Knight bullet intended for Agudosi near the back of the end zone instead was picked off quite nicely at the goal line by leaping linebacker Josh Bynes.

Just saying, if Boehm is routinely getting beat by Rucker and Nkemdiche, how do you think he will hold up when he will face Aaron Donald, Deforest Buckner and Jarron Reed for the rams, niners and hawks?

The problem is, the preseason games will not feature the same talent they will see inside in the first 7 games.Raiders, falcons and bears do not have the same explosive players that they will face when it counts. If Boehm and Shippley struggle in preseason, we know there is an issue.

I will say, those first 7 real games have some good young talent inside with the Lions AShawn Robinson, The colts Ridgeway and Hankins, and the cowboys with a very underated Malik Collins, Then it gets real tougher with Deforest Buckner of the niners, Fletcher Cox of the eagles, Gerald McCoy of the Bucs and Aaron Donald of the rams.

If there is a weak link inside, we will definitely know after the first 7 games. Of course, what do you do then?

I have to say, this is why I get leery about posting these practice reports that everyone wants. No way I can see everything.

For example, you say “if Boehm is routinely getting beat.” I saw Rucker beat him once. Now, maybe Frostee beats him every time. But I haven’t seen that. I rarely can see what exactly is going on in the line on 11-on-11. Too much chaos. The Boehm stuff I’ve seen is one-on-one drills.

If you want to run with it, fine. But please don’t make it sound that I’m the one reporting it.

I can’t help but have a sinking feeling that our receivers room, while purportedly is very deep, will be our downfall. Anybody not named Larry Fitzgerald will underachieve because of medical reasons. I hope I’m wrong, but common sense tells me that with injuries to Chad, Jaron Brown and JJ already threatening to sideline them from the second preseason game against the Raiders, this group won’t have the time to hone their timing with our QB for when the real season begins. What a bummer.

Speaking of WR’s….anyone see that the Rams just acquired Sammy Watkins in a trade with Buffalo? That is certainly an up-grade for them, and at a position that is likely to challenge any CB of ours not named Patrick Peterson.

Like some others, I like what our WR’s appear to be capable of being, but…..cannot help feel concerned about what the reality will be with the damn injuries creeping into the picture.

I see the Rams just traded for Sammy Watkins with their starting Corner & a 2nd round pick. Earlier in the week the Bills signed Anquan Boldin, who continues to be a playmaker for every team he’s played on going into his 15th season! I have been, and continue to be, concerned about our receiving room, outside of Fitz, for the reasons already expressed by others. It seems everyone else continues to be busy plugging holes and shoring up weaknesses, except for the Cards. Hope we’re not going to have another year of being overly confident in our small speedsters who can’t stay healthy. The Rams are busy catching up.

and that my friends is why gms and coaches get fired. every year every team has questions bout young players reaching their potential, older vets who may be finished and INJURIES.(or in the cowboys case-suspensions.

CARLSON CHEMIST like you I am getting more and more concerned about our WR crew. I remember how preseason went for our receivers last year and how it carried over to the regular season and our poor passing offense at the beginning of the year.

We do have David Johnson coming out of the backfield and lets hope our QB continues to use our TEs like we did last week so we rely less on our WRs. I was hoping to watch TJ Logan also come out of the backfield and see if a LB or safety could cover him. Hopefully we will all get to enjoy that at the end of the season and in the playoffs.

Interesting watching the Eagles and Rams make moves to improve their teams for 2017 and give up draft picks as neither is considered a contender.

I get the Raiders game from 1 – 4 AM on the NFL network in the east so I will be napping tomorrow.

We might get the colts without Andrew Luck and now the Cowboys without Zeke. That will be nice.

I see where the Eagles acquired a CB in this TRADE with the Bills. And, OK, who knows how that will turn out? But here’s the thing – the Eagles were feeling a need for help at the CB position. I’ve heard a lot of talk about it out here. And what did they do? They got AGGRESSIVE ( remember that word? That word our GM used before we did nothing to address our CB needs during the off-season? ) and made a move to TRY to up-grade at the position. And they were able to deal from a position of depth to get it done. With Jeffries and Torrey Smith brought in as FA WR’s in the off-season, they were able to deal Jordan Mathews.

Here? We have to cross our fingers and HOPE Justin Bethel can play CB ( if he can stay healthy, that is ) and we bring in 35 year old veterans, HOPING they have something left.

I’m not gonna stop saying it – with such a glaring need right there for all the world to see, more should have been done to address it during the off-season. But we neither signed, traded for, or even drafted a player to up-grade at CB. And thus, all we can do now is HOPE that someone from a pretty un-distinguished cast of characters can play even at a decent level over there.

Love to hear your thoughts, as always. Interesting, your wondering if the Bills are playing for 2018. Maybe.

I just wish I felt like MY team was more all in in regard to playing for 2017 – at least as it relates to the need at CB. Many “experts” who have weighed in on a forecast for the Cardinals this season have openly questioned whether the window is still really open at all. BUT I believe it definitely is. There is just too much talent here for this team to not be a contender. But…..damn, man, how do you NOT expect your fans to question a significant need – maybe THE biggest need we had going into the off-season – not being addressed AT ALL in terms of a player that could considered a legit up-grade at CB?? I just haven’t been able to put that to rest.

I know, preachin’ to the choir here. 🙂

I have a hard time putting things to rest, I DO know that. I’m surprised Darren even keeps putting my posts up at this point!

I get your frustration. But MY frustration is more about the damn injuries that are putting limits on everyone ( except Fitz, as usual ) right now. Hey, if John Brown, JJ Nelson, and Jaron Brown are all healthy and able to bring their true skills to the field…..I don’t think anyone would be complaining.

My overall concern for this team is that we just seem to have too many question marks and too many injury concerns.